1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle-mounted input device for operating various vehicle-mounted electronic apparatuses concentrically by means of a single manual control section and, more particularly, to means for improving controllability of the input device.
2. Description of Related Art
Automobiles in recent years are equipped with many electronic apparatuses such as air conditioner, radio, television, CD player and car navigation system. If the driver tries to control these electronic apparatuses separately, it is quite likely that the driving of the automobile will be adversely affected. To prevent this, therefore, there has been proposed a vehicle-mounted input device capable of performing the control of all these apparatuses by manipulating a single manual control section, for the purpose of facilitating on-off operation of a desired electronic apparatus, selection of its function, and adjustment of the selected function while performing safety driving.
FIGS. 8 through 13 show the configuration of a conventional vehicle-mounted input device that has been proposed. FIG. 8 is an inside view of an automobile mounted with the vehicle-mounted input device. FIG. 9 is a side view of the vehicle-mounted input device of a conventional example. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the manual control section of the vehicle-mounted input device. FIG. 11 is a plan view of a guide plate of the vehicle-mounted input device. FIG. 12 is a table showing a relation between the position of engagement of an engagement pin with a guide slot when the air conditioner has been selected by the switching device and the function to be selected. FIG. 13 is a table showing a relation between the position of engagement of an engagement pin with a guide slot when a radio has been selected by a switching device, and a function to be selected.
As shown in FIG. 8, the vehicle-mounted input device 100 of this example is located in a console box 200 mounted between the driver""s seat and the assistant driver""s seat of the automobile.
The vehicle-mounted input device 100 of this example, as shown in FIGS. 9 through 11, is mainly comprised of a manual control section 110 having a couple of click switches 111 and 112 as signal input means and three rotary variable resistors 113, 114 and 115; an XY table 120 which is driven in the X direction and the Y direction intersecting at right angles with the X direction by the manual control section 110; a stick controller 130 as positional signal input means for inputting signals according to the direction and amount of operation of the XY table 120; and a guide plate 140 engaged with the manual control section 110 through the XY table 120.
The manual control section 110 and the XY table 120 are integrally connected by a connecting shaft 150. The XY table 120 is engaged with the guide plate 140 by sliding the forward end of an engaging pin 160 projecting from the underside of the XY table 120, into a guide slot 141 formed in the upper surface of the guide plate 140. The guide slot 141, as shown in FIG. 11, includes three longitudinal slots 141a, 141b, and 141c arranged at a fixed spacing, and one horizontal slot 141d connecting at the central part these three longitudinal slots 141a, 141b and 141c. The slots 141a to 141d are formed in a width so that the engaging pin 160 is movable only in the lengthwise direction. Therefore the manual control section 110 and the XY table 120 are movable only in the X direction (in the lengthwise direction of the horizontal slot 141d) within the range of the pattern and size of the guide slot 141, and in the Y direction (in the lengthwise direction of the longitudinal slots 141a to 141c) intersecting at right angles with the X direction.
The changeover of the function of the vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus, as indicated by reference marks A to I, can be done by operating either one of the two click switches 111 and 112 provided on the manual control section 110 after moving the engaging pin 160 to the end or the central portion of the longitudinal slots 141a, 141b, and 141c. That is, information about the position of engagement between the engaging pin 160 and the guide slot 141 selected by operating the manual control section 110 and the XY table 120 can be outputted from the stick controller 130. Therefore, by utilizing the position information, the function of a vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus to be operated can be selected properly.
The function of the electronic apparatus thus selected by operating the manual control section 110 and the click switch 111 or 112 can be adjusted by operating one of the three rotary variable resistors 113, 114 and 115 of the manual control section 110.
The vehicle-mounted input device 100 of the aforementioned configuration is combined with the switching device for alternatively selecting required one of a plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic apparatuses, a display device which displays details of the name of the electronic apparatus selected by the switching device, and details of operation by the vehicle-mounted input device 100, and the computer for controlling these devices, thereby concentrically controlling the electronic apparatus.
A switching device 170 is a combination of a plurality (five in the example shown in FIG. 8) of switches 171a to 171e. As shown in FIG. 8, the switching device 170 is mounted in the vicinity of the setting section of the vehicle-mounted input device 100 in the console box 200. Furthermore, a display device 180, such as a liquid-crystal display device, is mounted in an easy-to-view position on the console box 200. The computer is located inside of the console box 200 and therefore is not illustrated.
The switches 171a to 171e provided in the switching device 170 are connected to a plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic apparatuses. For example, in the case the switches 171a, 171b, 171c, 171d and 171e are connected respectively to the air conditioner, radio, television, CD player, and car navigation system which are mounted on an automobile, the air conditioner can be selected alternatively by operating the switch 171a, and also the radio can be selected alternatively by operating the switch 171b. Other electronic apparatuses also can be selected by a similar switch operation. Therefore, it is possible to turn on and off a desired electronic apparatus by operating the switches 171a to 171e of the switching device 170.
The selection and adjustment of the function of the electronic apparatus thus selected by the switching device 170 can be operated by the vehicle-mounted input device. The function that can be selected by the vehicle-mounted input device 100 varies with the type of the electronic apparatus selected. For example, when the air conditioner has been selected by the switching device 170, the relation between the function to be selected and the positions of engagement A to I of the engaging pin 160 which engages with the guide slot 141 shown in FIG. 11 is as shown in FIG. 12. When the radio has been selected by the switching device 170, the relation between the function selected and the positions of engagement A to I is as shown in FIG. 13.
In the meantime, the function that can be adjusted by the vehicle-mounted input device 100 differs with the type and function of the electronic apparatus selected. For example, when the air conditioner is selected by the switching device 170 and xe2x80x9cAIR FLOW RATE CONTROLxe2x80x9d is selected by the manual control section 110, the air flow rate in the air conditioner can be controlled by the first rotary variable resistor 113. Also when the air conditioner is selected by the switching device 170 and the xe2x80x9cTEMPERATURE CONTROLxe2x80x9d is selected by the manual control section 110, the set temperature of the air conditioner can be controlled by operating the second rotary type variable resistor 114. Furthermore, when the radio is selected by the switching device 170 and the xe2x80x9cVOLUME CONTROLxe2x80x9d is selected by the manual control section 110, the radio volume can be controlled by operating the first rotary variable resistor 113. Also when the radio is selected by the switching device 170 and xe2x80x9cTUNINGxe2x80x9d is selected by the manual control section 110, radio tuning can be performed by operating the second rotary variable resistor 114.
The vehicle-mounted input device 100 of the conventional example is not provided with means by which the vehicle driver can see by a blind touch the current control position of the manual control section 110. Therefore, it is necessary for the driver to see the display device 180 to confirm the current control position of the manual control section 110. The conventional input device therefore has room for improvement in controllability.
In view of the above-described problem of the conventional input device, it is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle-mounted input device having excellent controllability.
The vehicle-mounted input device comprises a manual control section, position signal input means for inputting a signal into a control unit corresponding to the direction of control and/or the amount of operation of the manual control section, finger detecting means located in the manual control section, and alerting means for alerting the driver by a blind touch by outputting a signal corresponding to the control position of the manual control section when the finger is detected by the detecting means.
The finger detecting means detects the driver""s hand holding the manual control section. The alerting means gives off a signal alerting the driver, by a blind touch, of the control position of the manual control section while the driver""s finger is touching the manual control section. According to the aforesaid configuration, therefore, the driver can see the control position of the manual control section without observing the display device. Also when the control position of the manual control section is moved to another control position, the driver can see the control position of the manual control section after operation. The control position of the manual control section, therefore, can be changed over by a blind touch and also whether a required control position of the manual control section has been changed over is seen by a blind touch, thereby facilitating driving the motor vehicle and changing over the function of the vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus.
The motor vehicle may be provided with a selector switch for selecting a specific electronic apparatus from a plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic apparatuses. The function of the electronic apparatus selected by operating the selector switch can be adjusted by the manual control section. In this case, the alerting means may be configured to alert the driver of either one of, or both of, the type of the electronic apparatus selected by the selector switch and the function of the electronic apparatus to be controlled by the manual control section. In the case of the former, the driver can see by a blind touch both the type of the electronic apparatus selected by the selector switch and the function of the electronic apparatus to be controlled by the manual control section. It is therefore possible to easily and reliably perform the selection of a desired electronic apparatus and the control of the function of the electronic apparatus thus selected. In the case of the latter also, the driver can see by a blind touch either one of the type of the electronic apparatus selected by the selector switch and the function of the electronic apparatus to be controlled by the manual control section. By using a result of the above-described control as a base for decision, it is possible to select a desired electronic apparatus and to control the function of the electronic apparatus thus selected. The function of the desired electronic apparatus can be easily and reliably controlled as compared with the case no material for decision is available.
As the alerting means described above, usable is any arbitrary means capable of producing light, sound, or vibration to alert the driver by a blind touch of the control position of the manual control section. The alerting means is hardly affected by an external environment and can readily and reliably alert the driver of required information; it is therefore particularly desirable to have vibrating means which gives different modes of vibrations to the manual control section in accordance with the control position of the manual control section.